Commander: Army to Employ Latest Achievements in Upcoming Wargames

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Army Ground Force will employ its latest achievements in the forthcoming wargames, dubbed “Qamar-e bani-Hashem”, commander of the force said on Monday

Speaking to reporters here in Tehran today, Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said his forces are set to stage massive military drills, called Qamar-e bani-Hashem, which he said are to be carried out “in southeastern Iran in an area of 250,000 square kilometers

According to the commander, the wargames will take place in the month of Aban in the Iranian calendar (October 23 - November 21, 2013)

Brigadier General Pourdastan noted that the forthcoming military exercises also aim to test the potentials and capabilities of the armored units and airborne division of the ground force, adding that the most recent achievements will become operational in “ground defense” sphere during the even

In a recent development and during nationwide parades on the occasion of the Sacred Defense Week on Sunday, Iranian Army Ground Force put on display its latest achievements and state-of-the-art military equipment, including the ‘Scorpion’ tank which is one of the most advanced armored vehicles in service

On display were also saw ‘Ranger’ heavy vehicles as well as a special sniper gun to be used for ground combats in asymmetric battles

‘Safir’ tactical vehicles, special personnel carriers designed to move in difficult terrain, self-propelled artillery, various types of optimized personnel-carrier vehicles, mobile vehicles for asymmetric combats, indigenous ‘Zolfaqar’ tanks and fire control systems were among other modern military equipment in Sunday’s parades

The parades also saw other tanks such as ‘Mobarez’ (fighter), ‘Samsam’ and M60 -- all of which are equipped with fire control and anti-laser systems -- as well as other tanks equipped with 23 mm cannons

The latest type of “Nazea’t” surface-to-surface missile was another domestically-manufactured military product that was put on display on September 22

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced on Monday that the construction phase of the country"s new space launch center is almost complete and the country will launch a home-made satellite from the center in the near future

"A Imam Khomeini Space Launch Center is in its final stage and Simorgh Satellite carrier will be launched from this center" in the near future, Vahidi said, addressing a group of space technology researchers todayHe added that Iran plans to send different types of satellites, including Tolou (Dawn) into the orbit on the back of Simorgh (Phoenix) satellite carriersThe minister further said that President Ahmadinejad"s administration has drawn a 10-year space program and made great achievements, some of which are owned only by five world countriesOn January 28, the Defense Ministry"s Aerospace Industries Organization announced that it has sent a monkey into the space on the back of Pishgam (Pioneer) explorer rocket, and that it has brought back and recovered the living cargoThe Aerospace Industries Organization said it had sent the living creature into space aboard an indigenous biocapsule as a prelude to sending humans into spaceThe Aerospace Industries Organization said the capsule was sent to an orbit beyond 120km in altitude and carried out telemetry of the environmental data recordsThe explorer rocket was launched by the Aerospace Industries Organization and it returned to the Earth after reaching the desired speed and altitude, and the living creature (monkey) was retrieved and found aliveThe Islamic republic, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space program and has, thus far, made giant progress in the field despite western sanctions and pressures against its advancementIran has taken wide strides in aerospace. The country sent the first biocapsule of living creatures into space in February 2011, using its home-made Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrierIranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in 2010 that Iran plans to send astronauts into space in 2024. But, later he said that the issue had gone under a second study at a cabinet meeting and that the cabinet had decided to implement the plan in 2019, five years earlier than the date envisaged in the original planOmid (hope) was Iran"s first research satellite that was designed for gathering information and testing equipment. After orbiting for three months, Omid successfully completed its mission without any problem. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks and reentered the Earth"s atmosphere on April 25, 2009After launching Omid, Tehran unveiled three new satellites called Tolou, Mesbah II and Navid, respectively. Iran has also unveiled its latest achievements in designing and producing satellite carriers

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran"s new fighter jet which was unveiled today has been designed and manufactured fully domestically and enjoys a "unique" structure, its project manager said on Saturday

"The fighter jet is Iranian made and all its parts, from A to Z, have been manufactured domestically," Hassan Parvaneh told Iran"s state-run TV"Its shape and structure is completely unique and peerless," he addedParvaneh stated that only three world countries have the technology to manufacture such a fighter jetParvaneh said that the new fighter jet, Qaher 313, is "the first Iranian jet using a front control wing, and we have never had any other plane with this specificationHe further stated that Iranian engineers at the Defense Ministry"s Aviation Industries Organization augmented efforts to design and develop this aircraft after Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting asked them to switch their focus from reverse engineering to innovative designing and crossing the borders of science and technologyIran unveiled a new advanced home-made aircraft, named Qaher 313, in a ceremony attended by President AhmadinejadAddressing a ceremony to unveil Iran"s new home-made fighter jet, named Qaher 313, Vahidi said all production stages, including designing and manufacturing of the new aircraft were carried out by Iranian experts at the Aviation Industries Organization of the Defense MinistryAs regards the specification of Qaher 313, the minister said, "The advanced aircraft with an advanced appearance has a very small Radar Cross Section (RCS) and is capable of operating and flying in low-altitudeThe minister added that high-tech materials and electro-ionic systems were used in the aircraft which is capable of landing and taking off from short runwaysVahidi noted that Qaher 313 enjoys high combat capability and can carry home-made weaponsVahidi also told reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony that Qaher 313 is able to rival with the most advanced fighter jets in shape and structure, adding that its shape has gifted the aircraft small RCSRadar cross section (RCS) is a measure of how detectable an object is with a Radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi announced that his forces hunted a US Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) over the Persian Gulf after the drone violated the country"s airspace

The UAV which had conducted several reconnaissance flights over the Persian Gulf general zone in the past few days was caught and brought under control by air defense units and control systems of the IRGC Navy

The IRGC navy commander announced that the hunted UAV was a ScanEagle drone, adding that "such drones are usually sent to mission from large warships

Fadavi further noted that the IRGC has full intelligence supremacy over the moves of the foreign forces in the Persian Gulf

ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing

ScanEagle is based on Insitu"s Seascan miniature robotic aircraft and draws on Boeing"s systems integration, communications and payload technologies

As standard payload ScanEagle carries either an inertially stabilized electro-optical or an infrared camera. The gimbaled camera allows the operator to easily track both stationary and moving targets, providing real-time intelligence

Capable of flying above 16,000 feet, the UAV has also demonstrated the ability to provide persistent low-altitude reconnaissance

The development came exactly a year after Iran announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense forces had downed the aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack

The drone was the first such loss by the US. US officials have described the loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth drone program

The RQ-170 has special coatings and a batwing shape designed to help it penetrate other nations" air defenses undetected. The existence of the aircraft, which is made by Lockheed Martin, has been known since 2009, when a model was photographed at the main US airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan

The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA, US officials admitted in December

The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA"s fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defensesby: farsnews

TEHRAN (FNA)-Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi on Friday confirmed reports about Iran"s confrontation with an enemy aircraft in the airspace over the Persian Gulf, saying that the aircraft was shooed away by Iranian fighter jets.

"Last week an unidentified aircraft entered the airspace over Iran"s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, which was forced to flee due to the prompt, smart and decisive action of the Islamic Republic of Iran"s Armed forces," Vahidi said in a statement released by the Iranian Defense Ministry on Friday

He stressed that the incident and similar events in the past all indicate that "the Islamic Republic of Iran is vigilantly and precisely monitoring all moves and provides decisive, necessary and prompt response with efficient power" to any hostile move

The Iranian defense minister further stated that Iran is pursuing the case at relevant international bodies using all available capacities

On Thursday the Pentagon reported that Iranian fighter jets had opened fire on a US drone over the Persian Gulf on November 1, but did not hit the aircraft

According to the timeline provided by the Pentagon, two Iranian SU-25 "Frogfoot" aircraft intercepted the American drone at about 4:50 a.m. EST (0850 GMT) as it conducted a classified mission over Persian Gulf waters about 16 nautical miles off the Iranian coast

In response, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Cultural Affairs and Defense Publicity Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri told FNA that the Iranian Armed Forces repel any aggression against the country

"The defenders of the Islamic Republic of Iran give decisive response to any aerial, ground or sea aggression," Jazayeri told FNA, responding to a question about Pentagon"s Thursday report

The Pentagon report was given a wide coverage in the US media and sent gold prices high up in the world markets

Pentagon spokesman George Little said the aircraft fired multiple rounds at the Predator drone and followed it for at least several miles as it moved farther away from Iranian airspace

"We believe that they fired at least twice and made at least two passes," he saidDefense Secretary Leon Panetta was quickly notified of the incident, as were members of Congress and the White House, Little added

Political analysts believe that the Iranian fighters intended to just shoo away the American predator

The United States also sent Iran a warning through diplomatic channels, saying it would defend its military assets and would keep sending aircraft on similar missions in the Persian Gulf

"There is absolutely no precedence for this," Little said. "This is the first time that a (drone) has been fired upon to our knowledge by Iranian aircraft

American officials said that the Iranian SU-25s were flown by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as the IRGC is responsible for protecting security over the Persian Gulf

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari stressed Iran"s high level military preparedness, and stated that the country"s military might and power has acted as a major deterrent to enemy aggression.

"The trans-regional enemies would have definitely threatened and taken a bold move ( against Iran) if they had witnessed the least weakness. But our might and security is at a level that the enemy does not even dare to pose a military threat (to Iran) in the Persian Gulf waters," Jafari said in a ceremony held to mark the launch of operation of the IRGC"s fifth naval zone in Iran"s Southern port city of Bandar Lengeh Sunday morning

"We have made progress along with the growth and progress of the enemy and (change in) nature of threats," Jafari said, and added, "This rivalry exists and as we move ahead, the significance of military and defense advancement grows in our country

He said the progressive moves and measures adopted by Iran have served as a deterrent to an enemy invasion of Iran

In similar remarks last month, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei described the Iranian Armed Forces" full preparedness as a major deterrent to enemy attacks, and meantime stressed that the country will not step back in case of any foreign aggression

Addressing Iranian military units in Northeastern province of North Khorassan at the time, the Leader lauded Iran"s high military preparedness, and stated, "The only reason the power mongers" motivation for waging war has downgraded or getting weakened is the general readiness of Iranian nation and the defense readiness of the armed forces

Earlier today, the IRGC established a new Navy zone in a bid to boost defensive measures in waters surrounding Iran"s islands in the Persian Gulf

Commander of the IRGC Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said that the fifth zone operations will cover an area from Qeshm island and Naze"aat Islands region to the western waters of the Kish island

Iranian President Stresses Importance of Unity among Persian Gulf States

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the Persian Gulf littoral states to keep unity to prevent the presence of the alien forces in the region and the sale of the western weapons to the regional countries.

Addressing a group of political, cultural, media and social elites in Kuwait, Ahmadinejad said if governments and officials of the Persian Gulf region get united, the hegemonic powers will never be able to sell billions of dollars worth of arms in the region annually and set up military bases in Islamic states.

Noting that international relations should be reconsidered, the President said regional states should expand cooperation among themselves.

His remarks came after a senior Iranian official blasted the presence of trans-regional countries in the Persian Gulf, and said the regional states should boost their cooperation to maintain security in the strategic waterway.

"We advise regional countries to question the need for foreign military presence with closer and increased cooperation and we advise the countries with military presence (in the Persian Gulf) to be sensible and refrain from committing provocative acts," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said in July.

He reiterated that the recent attack by US naval forces on an Emirati fishing boat in Persian Gulf waters proves Iran"s assertions that foreign forces pose a threat to the region.

"No one is more concerned about security and stability in the Persian Gulf than regional countries," Mehman-Parast said, adding that under the present sensitive circumstances "the presence of foreign forces is provocative and (perceived as a) threat."

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran extends support to the front of resistance against warmongers, a senior Iranian foreign ministry official said less than a week after Lebanese Hezbollah Leader Seyed Hassan Nasrallah declared the drone which penetrated Israel"s air space used Iranian technology.

On October 6, Israeli media announced that an unknown drone was flying over the Yatir forest in the South Mount Hebron area and the Israeli army was trying to figure out what its destination was.

Israeli army later alleged that its forces had hit the drone kilometers after it infiltrated all the Israeli missile shields and radar systems and just a few kilometers away from the Dimona nuclear center.

Four days later the Hezbollah leader confirmed that the pilotless drone belonged to Hezbollah, adding that the operation codenamed Hussein Ayub saw Hezbollah"s drone fly hundreds of kilometers into the Israeli airspace and getting very close to Dimona nuclear plant without being detected by advanced Israeli and US radars.

Nasrallah further stated that Hezbollah"s drones use Iranian technology, but are assembled by his resistance movement in Lebanon.

Now five days later in Tehran, the spokesman of the Iranian foreign ministry confirmed Nasrallah"s remarks, saying Tehran helps every resistance movement standing against warmongers, a reference to the Israeli regime.

"We are at the service of the region"s security and stability and our country"s progress in defensive fields makes war less likely," Ramin Mehman-Parast said at his weekly press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

"Our country"s defensive capabilities are very high and our progress in different fields has given us the chance to defend our territorial integrity as well as the regional states" sovereignty and independence and find the ability to reinvigorate the resistance front against the western warmongers and interventionists and the Zionist regime," Mehman-Parast stressed.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran"s speedboats have been equipped with the capability to fire different types of anti-ship cruise missiles, an Iranian defense official announced on Monday.

"Our missiles have the capability of being launched from boats with the speed of over 30 knots, and these missiles include Zafar, Nasr, Nour and Qader," Deputy Defense Minister and Head of Iran"s Aerospace Organization General Mehdi Farah told FNA, adding that "Qadir missiles" will also be added to the list in near future

He underlined Iran"s growing missile capability as well as the special capabilities of Iran"s cruise and coast to sea missiles, and underlined high flexibility in the tactical use and missions of these missiles. "The tactical use (and goals) of these missiles can vary in accordance with the type of threat

In May, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said that Iran has allocated thousands of its speed boats for military purposes, adding that production of missile-launching speedboats is under Iran"s monopoly

"All throughout the world, Iran is the only country which has speed vessels with the ability of firing (rockets and missile) at high speeds," Fadavi said at the time

"We now have speedboats which can launch missiles as they traverse at a speed over 60km (per hour)," the commander underscored

Zafar (Triumph) is a short-range, anti-ship, radar guided missile capable of hitting and destroying small and medium-sized targets with high precision

The missile can be mounted onto light and speed boats, enjoys a high capability in anti-electronic warfare and is highly destructive

The anti-ship missile, called Nour (Light), is a long-range cruise missile manufactured by Iran and has already been mounted on several military gears

Iran"s latest cruise missile production, Qader (Mighty), was displayed to the public during the military parades marking the Week of Sacred Defense in September

TEHRAN (FNA)-A senior Iranian legislator said the recent penetration into the Israeli airspace by a Hezbollah pilotless drone displayed well that the Zionist regime"s military force is very weak, and that the regime can no way survive Iran"s missile attack, if war breaks out between the two sides.

"The most important message of the Hezbollah drone"s penetration into the occupied territories was that the Zionists" claims on attacking Iran are unfounded since the regime is not able to defend itself against Iran"s missile capabilities," member of the parliament"s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Saleh Jokar told FNA on Sunday.

"The failure of the Zionist regime in confronting Hezbollah"s drone in the air showed that the regime is vulnerable even to missiles with ordinary precision capabilities," he underlined.

In relevant remarks today, Iran"s former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani also stressed that the penetration of a Hezbollah drone deep into the Israeli airspace was a heavy blow to the Israeli regime and indicated the weakness of its radar systems.

"It was a valuable move and hit a heavy blow at the usurper regime despite all the claims of the Zionist officials who allege that they have a powerful air force and radar systems," Rohani said.

He further noted the remarks made by Lebanese Hezbollah Leader Seyed Hassan Nasrallah who had confirmed that the pilotless aerial vehicle was owned by the resistant group, and described the drone infiltration into the Israeli airspace as a "good victory displaying Hezbollah"s power".

On Thursday evening, Nasrallah confirmed that the movement has sent a drone deep into the Israeli airspace, and stressed that the move demonstrated part of Hezbollah"s capability.

The operation code-named Hussein Ayub saw Hezbollah"s drone fly hundreds of kilometers into the Israeli airspace and getting very close to Dimona nuclear plant without being detected by advanced Israeli and US radars, Nasrallah said on Thursday evening.

"This is only part of our capabilities," he stressed, adding that Israelis have admitted to their security failure despite being provided with the latest technologies by Western powers.

Hezbollah secretary-general further stated that Hezbollah"s drones are made in Iran but assembled by the resistance movement.

Hezbollah plans to send more drones over Israel in the future, he added, adding that the operation shows the resistance movement is ready to defend Lebanon.

Earlier reports by the Israeli media said that the drone was flying over the Yatir forest in the South Mount Hebron area last Saturday and the Israeli army was trying to figure out what its destination was.

The Israeli army is feeling too worried over the incident because its forces allege they had hit the drone kilometers after it infiltrated all Israeli missile shield and radar systems, and just a few kilometers away from the Dimona nuclear center.